Rebels kill soldiers in attack on disputed region

Kashmir: Rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed two soldiers in an attack in the disputed region’s main city, the Indian army said.

Colonel Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman, said militants sprayed bullets at an army patrol on the outskirts of Srinagar city.

Two soldiers were critically injured and later died at a hospital, he said.

Counterinsurgency police and soldiers launched a search operation for the attackers.

Rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.

None of the groups immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Both India and Pakistan claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety.

Seoul: The operator of an online chat room has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for blackmailing women, including minors, into filming sexually explicit videos and then selling them to others.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted Cho Ju-bin, 24, of violating the laws on protecting minors and organising a criminal ring, court spokesman Kim Yong Chan said.

The court ruled Cho “used various methods to lure and blackmail a large number of victims into making sexually abusive contents and distributed them to many people for an extended period,” according to Mr Kim.

“He particularly disclosed the identities of many victims and inflicted irreparable damages to them.”

Cho maintained he only cheated victims into making such videos but did not blackmail or coerce them, forcing some of the victims to testify in court. Mr Kim said the court decided to isolate Cho from society for a prolonged period in consideration of his attitude and the seriousness and evil influence of his crime.

Ankara: A Turkish court sentenced military and civilian personnel at an air base to life prison sentences, proclaiming them guilty of involvement in a failed coup attempt in 2016, the state-run news agency reported.

A total of 475 defendants, including generals and fighter jet pilots at the Akinci air base, on the outskirts of the capital Ankara, have been on trial for the past three years, accused of directing the coup and bombing key government buildings.

The massive trial was one of two main trials against suspected members of a network led by Us-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the failed attempt.

Mr Gulen, who was also named among the defendants, has denied involvement in the coup that resulted in around 220 deaths and injured thousands.

Copenhagen: Hundreds of mink culled to minimise the risk of coronavirus re-transmission to humans have risen from their shallow graves in western Denmark.

Danish authorities said the phenomenon was due to gases building up inside their bodies.

Jannike Elmegaard of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said: “The gases cause the animals to expand and, in the worst cases, the mink get pushed out of the ground.”

He said it affected “a few hundred” animals.